11/07/2024
i know i can't be the only one... what da hell happened to candy?? i feel like this halloween it didn't hit the same as it did in the past. and maybe it's because i'm getting older, but damn.. i just don't even wanna eat it. specifically any of the chocolate candies this year. i've noticed a lot of the ones with carmel in them, they really went crazy on the carmel this year. perhaps to make up for something... i did a little research on this topic, and yippee!! im not going crazy!!! candy is scientifically worse this year due to the soaring cacao prices and companies who really really want to turn a profit.
now if you're a chocolate fiend like me, you're probably familiar that chocolate prices have been going up everywhere. this is because in west africa, where 70 percent of cacao is produced, they have been experiencing major droughts for the past 3 years now, reducing cacao yields. since there is currently less cacao in the world, and demand is still high for chocolate, prices have increased. (and now i have to drop like $6 for a bag of m&m's ðŸ˜) because of this, tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips have been my go to since they're cheaper and you get some more bang for your buck ($4.5 for 12oz at the moment, though i remember them being $3 like a year agoðŸ˜)
i don't know if you guys noticed this year, but candy prices for halloween were actually pretty affordable, which i was really surprised about. but getting a taste this halloween, yeah... i see what happened... through my research there were 3 things that companies did this halloween to cut costs and keep prices low so they could still turn a profit that made the candy taste worse this yearðŸ˜
1. shrinkflation
i feel like we're all no stranger to shrinkflation nowadays. if you wanna save money, make things smaller! yes! i've definitely noticed this in twix, snickers, and other "bar" candies this year. however, when you shrink candies, the proportions tend to be off.. just ask my sister about how mini reeses are better than regular resses, you end up tasting more chocolate when there's not as much on the inside.
2. change the formula
this is the change i noticed the most this year. call me a fattie, but i know the taste of twix, snickers, and milkyway. they did not taste the same this year. with all of these candies, it seemed they just added more carmel. you could barely taste much chocolate in them. but now it all makes more sense with how scarce cacao is right now. i guess i can't really complain because the price was right for these halloween candies. most bags i saw this year were around $5-$8 a bag.
3. including non-chocolate candy (fruit candy) in candy bags
i'm actually the most happy about this last change because i love fruit + non-chocolate candy, and it's nice to be able to get a bag with both types of candy. this year the bag we got had skittles and it was a nice treat.
so yes, in conclusion i am not going crazy and all candy tastes bad this year rahhh!!!